Thankful for giving neighbors, life in the South and water

Carolyn Alford

Sunday

Jan 19, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 19, 2014 at 4:33 PM

Hello friends and neighbors. It is good to see you here.

Hello friends and neighbors. It is good to see you here.

A contingent from Onslow Caregivers traveled to Raleigh on Dec. 18 to meet with Section Chief Craig Smith at the NC Department of Health and Human Services and state Representative Phil Shepard about establishing a hospice house in Onslow County. Volunteer Wade Wainwright drove the Lighthouse Baptist Church van to transport eight of us to Raleigh to include Jean Cole, Wanda Elliott, Elvira Webb, Martha Harville, Martha Jacob, Marge Zima and Sharon and Norman Brown. Sandra Griffin and I followed in my own vehicle. The meeting went well and we moved on to lunch at the General Assembly cafeteria. The food was good country cooking, the conversation was lively and we all enjoyed it (photo available upon request). After the meal, we decided to take up money for the driver to thank him for taking his day to drive us. The driver was reluctant to take the money, so when Martha Jacob gave it to him, he placed in a holder on the dashboard.

When it was time to leave, Wade turned right upon leaving the parking deck. I turned left so I lost the van on the way home. Since he had turned the wrong way, Wade said it took them a while to travel down U.S. 70 to connect with Interstate 40. Wade stopped at a McDonald’s just off 40 for a bathroom break. He said that he parked the van catty-cornered across two parking spaces. When he returned to the van, there was a car beside the van also parked catty-cornered across two spaces. The woman driver was sobbing, shaking, talking to herself and beating her hands holding a cell phone on the steering wheel. There was a toddler strapped in a car seat in the back.

Concerned for the woman, Wade approached the car and knocked on the driver’s window.

“Are you OK ma'am?” Wade asked.

The young woman cracked the window and explained to Wade that she had driven hours from Jamestown to meet her husband at the McDonald’s to collect the child support money. He had not shown up. His 18-year-old girlfriend had called on the cell phone to tell her that her husband was not coming. Trusting him, she had spent her last $2 on one hamburger for her and the child and now she had no money to return home. She apologized for venting her frustration.

Wade returned to the van and took the money from the holder and gave it to the woman. Jean Cole then peeled out of the van to speak to the woman. Hearing her story, Jean advised her to go home and let her parents help her. The woman said that her parents were dead. Jean advised her to contact the Salvation Army and/or Social Services for help for herself and her child. Jean then removed all the money in her wallet and gave it to the woman. Others in the van also donated money. The woman cried some more and got out of the car to hug Jean. It was then that Jean saw that she was pregnant.

The woman took Jean’s face between her hands. “I just want you to know that I am not trailer trash,” she said.

They hugged and the woman left without anyone getting her name. We’re hoping the young woman will read this and get in touch so that we will know that all is well with her.

“I think someone talking to her was the best thing,” Jean said. “We believed her. I don’t know the end of the story but I see her face every day in my mind. The baby’s face was like an angel. He had a little piece of a blanket in his hand and he was coughing.

“She was going through hard times. At least there was a group of people to help her. I hope it gave her the courage to go on and do what she needed to do for her and her baby.”

Wade said that he thinks it was divine intervention that turned the van the wrong way that day and caused them to go 15 or 20 miles out of the way.

“I felt good about it,” Wade said. “I hope we did the right thing. I have been blessed all the way around since then so maybe we did. God does not turn his back on me so I try not to turn my back on anyone else.”

Onslow Caregivers has held the Festival of Trees for 11 years towards establishing a hospice house. The committee is looking for five acres of land. If you know of any property, please contact a member of the Onslow Caregivers board. Donations are also needed.

Arctic polar vortex

It’s official. I hate polar vortexes. That’s why I live in the South and not the Arctic. It was hard to tell this was the South last week when the polar vortex escaped its bounds and dipped down. The temperature dropped like a stone.

It was about 3 p.m. when my tenant Charlie called me.

“Carolyn there is water spewing next door creating icicles under the mobile home,” he said.

I had turned the water off to the mobile home so I knew it had to be on the water side. Joe met me there with parts to repair the broken water line. It was too cold for the bonding to hold on the water lines. Joe was getting frost bite on his fingers so I asked him to go sit in the truck while I ran to Lowe’s to purchase a cap for the pipe. I also got my hair dryer to warm the pipes so that the bond would hold. We managed to cap the pipe and insulate it but it was after dark when we finished. By the time we got home, a hot bowl of soup and grilled cheese was welcome comfort food. It took a while to thaw out.

It was just as cold the next day so I checked the pipes again. It was Wednesday Rotary day. Something kept telling me to go home and check on the dog. I listened to that inner voice and went home before Rotary to let the dog out. When I opened the back door, water was spewing from the deck to the middle of the backyard. The faucet on the deck for watering flowers had frozen and as it thawed, water spewed forth.

I still had Joe’s water turnie off thing in the car in case of another leak at the campground so I turned off the water in the front yard, flipped the switch to the hot water heater and went to Rotary. I’d had enough of playing in the water during a polar vortex. I was waiting for a warmer day.

I came home that night to no water except half of a gallon that I keep for the dog’s bowl. From habit, I went to one or the other sinks many times that evening to turn on the water.

The next morning, I had flushed all my toilets and used all the water in the gallon jug. Mooshie, the dog, was tired of sharing her water bowl so I brushed my teeth and plastered my hair down with unsweet tea. I asked Joe and my friend Judy Huff how I looked with tea-plastered hair and teeth over lunch at Angie’s. We had a good laugh and then between us, Judy and I managed to turn over her tea and bathe the rest of me in unsweet tea.

Joe capped the line on Friday so that I could have water and repaired it on Saturday while my daughter Brit, Aunt Kelly, Cousin Katie and friend/bridesmaid Marilyn shopped for a wedding dress. The dog was relieved to have her water bowl to herself.

It was a great reminder of how precious is water. We are blessed to have fresh water in this country but the aquifers will not last forever if we do not conserve water and protect it from being polluted by such things as fracking.

March for Life

The Knights of Columbus at Infant of Prague Catholic Church will hold the March for Life at 1 p.m., Jan. 25 beginning at the corner of Bayshore Drive and Johnson Boulevard and marching to the church where 41 memorial crosses will be placed on the church lawn, one for every year since the Roe v. Wade decision. An ecumenical prayer service will be held to proclaim the dignity of all human life and to remember all who have died due to abortion. Refreshments will follow in the church hall. The public is invited. Call (910) 340-3142 for more information.

Thank you for coming.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.